It was snowing.
But it wasn't real snow. It was ash.
Riven stood in the courtyard of a grand palace. Servants bustled around him. Robes of white and silver adorned his shoulders, and a crown of braided light hovered gently above his brow.
He was not a prisoner.
He was a prince.
At least… that's what the world told him.
> [Core Stability: 48%]
Warning: Authoritative Rewrite in Progress
Source: EXILED NARRATOR
Protective Subsystems compromised.
His fingers trembled. Something was wrong.
The people around him smiled like paintings—too still, too perfect. Their eyes didn't blink at the right time. Their mouths moved half a second too slow.
Even the air felt scripted.
---
"I must prepare the address," he heard himself say.
But whose voice was that?
He didn't remember learning this language. Didn't remember the people around him. Didn't remember being a prince.
And yet… memories poured in like floodwaters.
A childhood of laughter.
Tutors who praised his brilliance.
A father who called him "little star."
All fake. All lies.
And he almost believed it.
---
Suddenly, a mirror shimmered into existence.
In it, he saw himself—royal, radiant, refined. But behind the mirror, he saw another reflection.
One with blood-stained clothes.
Chains on his wrists.
Eyes burning with rebellion.
The real Riven.
> [Intervention Request: Denied]
[Narrative Lock Enforced by Entity Class: EXILED NARRATOR]
You are not allowed to be broken. You are not allowed to be angry. You are not allowed to be real.
---
A voice whispered in his head.
"Wouldn't this be better? To be loved. To be important. To be safe."
Another voice responded, but it was his own.
"No. I would rather be a monster in truth than a puppet in paradise."
The glass shattered.
---
The world glitched.
The servants around him flickered.
The sky turned black for a split second—then back to blue.
Riven clutched his head.
> [Core Response Triggered]
Sovereign Layer: 74%
Initiating Defensive Manifestation…
Skill Unlocked: Anchor of the Self
Description: Materializes an immovable point of personal identity. Prevents memory tampering for 60 seconds.
Time slowed.
A single white chain shot from Riven's chest and anchored itself into the void above, glowing bright.
Reality screamed.
---
The Exiled Narrator manifested again.
This time, it wore his mother's face.
"Riven," she said softly. "You were never hurt. Never rejected. They all loved you. Don't you remember the warmth of the sun on the palace steps?"
"No," he growled. "I remember cages. I remember fire. I remember screaming until my voice broke."
The false mother smiled.
"You're remembering the wrong things."
---
She snapped her fingers.
Riven collapsed, clutching his skull. Pain lanced through every neuron.
> [Anchor of the Self: 49 seconds remaining]
Every second felt like drowning in honey and lies. The world pulled him toward comfort. Toward forgetting. Toward becoming someone else.
But Riven refused.
He rose again, panting. The illusion flickered.
"I'm not who you say I am," he whispered. "I'm who I chose to become."
---
The world began collapsing.
The palace cracked like porcelain.
The servants dissolved into ink.
The Exiled Narrator shed the mask of his mother and appeared in full:
A blank book as a face.
Quills for fingers.
A robe made of tangled storylines.
An aura of final drafts and edited truths.
"You were given a chance to be rewritten into perfection," it hissed. "And you chose suffering?"
"I chose freedom."
---
It raised a hand. Quills sharpened. Sentences formed mid-air, aimed at him like spears.
Each line a false memory.
Each word a weapon.
> [Threat Level: Absolute]
[Narrative Penetration Detected]
"Riven once forgave his captors."
"Riven wept with joy when he saw the palace."
"Riven was never chained. He volunteered."
> [Anchor of the Self: 3 seconds remaining]
"Rewrite complete."
The narrator smiled.
---
And then—
"I REJECT YOU."
Riven roared, slamming his fists together.
The anchor chain snapped—by his own will.
The remaining seconds converted into pure defiance.
> [Unique Trait Activated: Sovereign Paradox]
You reject imposed structure.
Authority intrusion reversed.
The narrative collapsed into ribbons of code.
The Exiled Narrator screamed.
"You do not have the right to rewrite the script!"
"No," Riven said. "But I have the right to burn it."
---
He surged forward.
Each step broke lines of fake text.
Each breath tore open illusions.
He drove his hand into the narrator's chest and ripped out a glowing core—a heart made of white ink.
> [Narrative Source Detained]
Exiled Narrator Defeated
Memories Recalibrated
Core Stability: 91%
The false world shattered like glass.
And Riven fell through.
---
---
He woke in a new space.
No longer the void. No longer illusion.
A dome of celestial glass overhead. Stars wheeling outside. A great ring of energy surrounding him.
This was real.
> Time Remaining: 43:51
Core Integrity: 91%
Sovereign Layer: 78%
System Hostile Units Neutralized: 2/4
And then a voice echoed:
"Final path awaits."
A stairway of starlight unfolded before him.
He stepped onto it—
And the stars screamed.